My tent in the middle of the highway and the lies of the settlements

Image by DrewOtt via Flickr

Tailgating is a weird thing to do. It must be fun, but I just don’t get it. I prefer my party to be... well... more than 3 feet from my neighbor’s party. Perhaps I can also imagine a location nicer than a parking lot.

Israel has its own version of tailgating. It doesn’t have a fancy name (in general, barbecue is called Alla-Aish - and has nothing to do with the Arabic Alla or Aish. Actually, it literally means “on the fire”.) Anyhow, Alla-Aish often involves barbecuing on a traffic island by a highway.

Below - Alla-Aish from '69 and a more recent one.


I never got that either.

But sometime I enjoy imagining the following scenario. What would have happened if I had decided to build my home in the middle of the busiest highway in Israel? (for the Israeli reader, I usually think of the Halacha exit on Ayalon).
My day dreaming usually ends fairly quickly, realizing that I will soon find myself glued to a wheel of a track rotating at 65 mph.
But sometimes I think that perhaps the army will decide to protect me, build a wall around me, send hundreds of troops to make sure that violators do not disturb my privacy, and in general, making me feel very welcomed there, in my tent in the middle of the highway.

I often think that the settlers have the very same dream, only that no-one ever wakes them up.

In this post I do not argue whether Israel has the right over the west bank (for security, religious, historic, imperialist, or megalomanic reasons). Even if Israel has the right over the West Bank, I argue that the settlements are the dumbest thing ever (and pretty evil too).

The main highway in Israel, Ayalon highway, most certainly belongs to Israel. It is in the middle of Tel Aviv. Still, this does not give me the right to build my home there, since I put myself and my surrounding at risk. It is simply not reasonable. The biggest success of the settlements, in my view, is that somehow they were able to avoid the public discourse. In the Israeli public opinion, holding the occupied territories and building there settlements are the same thing. However, it is pretty simple to see that settlements impose nothing but risks, to everyone. Their existence kills people and kills the chance for peace.

Instead of giving the numbers or telling the stories, let me just share three videos with you. Kids, don’t try this at home. Actually, kids, don’t watch it. But grownups, you must watch these. It is our obligation as thinking people to know what is going on there. Not knowing lost its legitimacy after 1945.
The first is a story of a settler in Hebron.


The second is about Palestinians who try to harvest their olive trees, as instructed by the Israeli court and army. A story from the Israeli media.


The third goes back to the first family. This time a Palestinian kid tries to return home. Notice what the soldiers do, and how old the jewish terrorists are. I will probably not send my kids to their school.


These are only few examples. If you want to watch more, I recommend these two channels:
http://www.youtube.com/user/shovrim (operated by Breaking the Silence)
and
http://www.youtube.com/user/btselem (operated by B'Tselem)

Above all, the settlements are the main obstacle to the two states solution. As one of the settlers told reported Bob Simon on CBS’s 60 minutes: "I think that settlements prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state in the land of Israel. This is the goal. And this is the reality."
I am sure most of you already watched the excellent CBS report, but in case you missed it, here it is:


The following two maps were taken from Peace Now and demonstrate the dimension of this phenomena. On the left - the west bank (in blue -settlements; in brown - Palesitinan territories). On the right - the road blocks. Notice that almost all of them (actually, all of them but 35) are not between Palestine and Israel, and are a direct outcome of the wish to protect settlements. These are the same roadblocks that prevent kids from going to school, farmers from working their lands, and pregnant women from reaching the hospitals on time.




Even if we assume that peace cannot be reached, a conclusion I object, Israel has no right or reason to maintain the settlements. This is an immoral sin and imposes a risk to everyone in the region.

To start realizing the effect of the settlements and road blocks, I recommend a movie by Avi Mograbi, and one blog by a member of Machsom Watch. Thanks, Nina, for finding this blog. This blog traveled from Israel to Indonesia and back for me to find it. A person could have never completed that journey.

The Blog - Hebrew and English.
The movie: Avenge but One of My Two Eyes, by Avi Mograbi.



The "funny" thing is that official Israeli report recognizes that 75% of the settlements have illegal building procedures, and still the state of Israel lies openly:
“Israel's actions relating to the use and allocation of land under its administration are all taken with strict regard to the rules and norms of international law...Although the Hague Regulations, in Article 52, permit the administering authority to requisition private property for reasons of military necessity, Israel does not requisition private land for the establishment of settlements, even where there is military justification.“

Gentleman, we have created a monster.

I Speak to You Today in the Name of Many.

I want to share with you things I said today at the protest against the war in Gaza. (January 17 2009, Pittsburgh PA).
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My name is Ido Roll, and I am an Israeli.

I speak to you today in the name of hundreds of Israelis who refuse to join the Israeli army because it is committing war crimes against people who should be free.
I speak to you in the name of thousands of people in Sderot, Beer Sheva, and southern Israel, who have lived under the attacks of deadly rockets for 8 years, and still oppose the war and killing in Gaza.
I speak to you in the name of tens of thousands of Israelis, in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Sachnin, who go out to the streets and protest the war every day, though their voices are ignored by the media.

I am speaking in the name of all these, begging, asking: please, stop the killing. Stop the war NOW.

Two days ago we held an Jewish pro-peace event at the Jewish Community Center. We heard these unheard voices. We also talked with Dr. Izzadin Abouleish, a physician from Gebalya refugee camp in Gaza. Izzadin, in his loud and clear voice, called for peace. He described how he sits on the floor, looks at the eyes of his kids, and cannot tell them where he will be tomorrow, or where they will be the day after. He described how his life would no longer be called life if his children get hurt.
12 hours later an Israeli tank hit his home. 3 of his daughters were killed. His brothers and two more sons were critically wounded or killed. This war spares no-one. No one is immune to this crazy violence.

This is not about being pro-Israeli vs. pro-Palestinian. This is about being pro the living. Pro common sense. Pro people. We must all do what we can to stop the killing.

We need a ceasefire now. But we should not stop there. This war is only the symptom of a much deeper disease. As long as there is an occupation, there is violence. We should continue, until all people in the Middle East can live freely, peacefully, life of dignity and prosperity.

I am calling on all Americans to stand for what they believe. This conflict will not be solved by watching it on CNN. We have the responsibility, the moral obligation, to act. Every day in which we do not act is a day in which we let the killing go on.
I can't stop thinking about the daughters of Dr. Aboueleish. I can't stop praying for my own daughter, never to know these things.
The killing must end now.

Thank you.